


Benefits Package

by Alecto



Series: tumblr ficlets [25]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Married Couple, Post-Canon, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23546968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alecto/pseuds/Alecto
Summary: Dialogue prompt: "I'm your husband. It's my job."Joey knew where he stood on the rankings in Seto's heart. It was more than enough.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: tumblr ficlets [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/48708
Comments: 13
Kudos: 115





	Benefits Package

Tea jogged over, leaned against the car, and stuck her head halfway through Joey's open window. "Wow, Joey, you're on time."

Joey reached across the gear shift and wedged an arm between Seto and his seatback. "You betcha, as long as I got this personal chauffeur."

Tea and Seto rolled their eyes in almost perfect unison. Joey had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at her subsequent surprised expression and Seto's sour one. 

Tea recovered first, politely turning her attention away from his awkward and somewhat unsuccessful attempt to cuddle Seto in the driver's seat. Which was honestly a feat when Joey had his head canted against Seto's bony shoulder. He took that as a sign to get moving. They would be able to stay idle for much longer with the current traffic. Not to mention, Seto had a meeting to make.

Joey freed his arm but not before plastering a wet peck on Seto's cheek with a resounding smack. "Thanks for the ride, babe. You're the best."

Seto wrinkled his nose in disgust. Oh, how he hated being called "babe," but Joey couldn't help but tease him, especially when they had an audience. "I'm your husband. It's my job," he responded with an almost long-suffering sigh. Still, his blue eyes contained a warm gleam that Joey knew to look for and treasure.

Joey chuckled to himself as he climbed out of the car. Almost as soon as he closed the door and cleared the curb, Seto was already speeding away before Tea could call out her goodbye. She dropped her waving hand to her side, and a small furrow settled between her brows. It stayed while they made their way to their destination on foot.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh fine, doesn't it bother you when he treats you like that?" Tea asked, coming to a stop to the side of the sidewalk.

Joey followed her example and stepped out of the way of moving foot traffic. "Whaddya mean?" 

"Kaiba, it's almost like he treats you like a burden." Her hands danced through the air as she spoke, brows still knitted together by confusion and a touch of indignation. 

He shrugged before responding, "You know how Seto gets. He's always been a sarcastic ass."

"I suppose, but you two are married now. Seems like there should be more of a honeymoon phase. Well, I'd still feel miffed sometimes if my husband referred to our relationship as a 'job.'"

Joey rubbed his chin, lost in momentarily thought. When he came back to himself, it was to Tea still staring up at him. "I guess, even if he was serious, I wouldn't, like, consider that an insult."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Why's that?"

"I mean, it's Seto. He's Seto Kaiba. For as long as we've known him, his priorities were prolly Mokuba and his company, prolly in that order too. If being my husband is like a job, it'd mean I'm at least as important as the company, right? I dun mind tying for second place in that case." 

By the time he finished with his explanation, Joey wore a small and fulfilled smile. Seto wasn't the softest person. Joey had known that long before they entered into a relationship or before marriage was ever on the tables. But Seto cared, and he cared fiercely. Joey didn't doubt that. 

"Huh, I would have never thought of it that way," Tea muttered. "But it does make sense for someone like him. I just want to make sure he's treating you right, Joey, you deserve it."

He was admittedly a bit touched by her concern. It was good to have friends that cared, even if it was a bit of an overreaction. "You don't hafta worry. Seto and me are good. Better than good actually," he said the last part with a small huff of laughter. He wished there was a way he could convey to her all the little things he shared with his husband. But Joey had never been much a wordsmith, and he was content to hoard that knowledge to himself for now.

She nodded, letting the previous tension unfurl from her shoulders.

"'Sides, he risks losin' half the empire in the divorce if he neglects my sweet ass," Joey cackled, injecting some much-needed levity into the conversation.

"Didn't you sign a prenup?" Tea snickered.

"Shuddup," he hushed her in a conspiratory tone, making a show of looking over both of his shoulders. "I might get away with it if ya don't remind him!"

"Joey, I love you, but you and I both know you're not clever enough to pull it off."

"Huh, guess I'll have to settle for being a millionaire's trophy husband."

She laughed, then threaded her arm through his elbow and dragged him toward the restaurant.


End file.
